Students and the dean of the engineering college are starting to question how the administration handled last week’s suspension of an aviation student.
At a news conference last Wednesday, Ohio University President Roderick McDavis announced the immediate suspension of senior John Fry. McDavis said the student, from Piqua, Ohio, “has been threatening other students and university personnel” and allegedly brought a handgun and a knife onto university property.
In an e-mail obtained by The Post, Dennis Irwin, the dean of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, said McDavis’ actions were “not worthy of my respect or of anyone else’s.”
“Given that I was not afforded an opportunity to even do basic fact-checking (and it needed quite a bit) before the press release went out … I feel, and will continue to feel, betrayed,” he wrote in the May 4 e-mail to Kathy Krendl, executive vice president and provost.
“This was a blatant attempt to appear ‘heroic’ at the expense of several people, just one of them being me,” he wrote.
University spokesman Joe Brennan confirmed for the first time this week that the student in question is Fry, who refused to comment, referring all questions to Athens attorney Bob Toy, who did not return calls seeking comment.
Irwin, in a statement yesterday, maintained that the engineering college has followed university procedures in dealing with Fry since 2004.
“University Judiciaries is responsible for student discipline; faculty, staff, chairs, and deans have only a referral capacity,” he wrote.
Fry went before judiciaries for his final hearing Monday. Malcolm Smith, director of judiciaries, could not comment on the outcome.
Sunday night, senior and former aviation student Jerod Elder and junior Mike Brett painted the graffiti wall in support of Fry. It read “Save John Fry: End the Witch Hunt.”
“He’s not this terrorist they’ve painted him out to be,” Elder said. He described Fry as a “very, very friendly person” whom he would trust with his life.
The students questioned the university’s decision to announce the suspension at a news conference instead of keeping the information private.
“They just want somebody to crucify,” Elder said, adding he thinks some of the faculty in the Aviation Department might have something against Fry, including chairman Anthony Sharp, whom he cites as part of the reason he left the program.
Sharp denied he had any animosity toward Fry, but would not comment further. Fry’s flight instructor, Kurt Schoenhals, also declined to comment on the case.
The OU Police Department continues its investigation, said Lt. Chris Johnson. He said the police have no timeline or deadline in dealing with the case, but that “a full and complete investigation must be completed” before charges can be filed.
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